In the first few weeks of having your baby there are two things you can do to help re-gain strength in your abs but you must lay off the abdominal crunches, these will not give you a flat tummy and will make any abdominal separation worse.
Firstly, you have to become aware of your abdominals again, the stretch that occurred from your growing bump means they have weakened and lost muscle memory. You need to re-train them by remembering to pull your belly button whilst breathing out so that it feels tighter. Do this all the time – whilst walking and doing your daily activities.
Secondly, you need to get on the case with your pelvic floor exercises. The best pelvic floor exercises are dynamic, this means movements in different directions, similar to everyday activities using some aids such as a core training ball. These moves are far more effective in strengthening that area than old style exercises which tell you to imagine you are stopping the flow of urine by squeezing! Leakages usually happen when you are coughing, walking, lifting or moving rather than standing still so it makes sense to train the pelvic floor whilst moving!
My favourite includes squatting down, tightening your abs and lifting your bladder then returning to standing position and lifting your heels. When you squat you must lower your bottom towards the floor and keep your weight in your heels.
The next step is to get back in tune with your abdominals so you can effectively strengthen and tone them back up. This exercise can easily be done at home with your baby and again as soon as you leave the hospital.
- Lie on your back with knees bent
- Your lower spine should be neither arched or completely flattened against the floor, rather aligned normally with a small gap between the floor and your lower back.
- Breathe in and relax all your stomach muscles
- Breathe out and at the same time pull your lower abdomen inwards as if your belly button is going in towards the floor. Imagine fastening up a pair of skinny jeans
- Hold the contraction, continuing to breathe for 10 seconds and stay relaxed, try to hold the tension in your lower stomach area
- Repeat 5-10 times
Top Tip:
- Imagine your deep abdominal muscles are a corset that wraps round your whole stomach
- Place one hand above the belly button and one below
- Slowly draw in the lower abdomen, below the belly button, without drawing in the rib cage or upper abdominals
- Aim for a 10 second contraction, breathing normally.
- Do not let the whole stomach tense up or your upper abdominals bulge or dome outwards, as this means you have cheated by using the wrong muscles.
You can also practice this lying on your front, four-point kneeling, sitting and standing, make sure you have mastered the lying on your back version first. And always have your lower spine in neutral before you begin. You can do this several times a day, being consistent is key. It depends on how weak your abdominals were before and during your pregnancy but you should be able to feel a contraction and your stomach tightening within a few times of performing this exercise.
